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be more dangerous than thought |
| Researchers found in a pilot study that women who live with smokers may be up to six times more likely of developing lung cancer. The research was conducted at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. In this study, tissue cells from a group of women who lived with smokers were examined for the absence of a specific gene that helps fight inactivate carcinogens found in smoke. The results showed that the 106 women in the study group increased their risk from lung cancer between 2.6 and 6 times more likely than those who were not exposed to second hand smoke. Presently the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that secondhand smoke increases the risk of lung cancer by only 20%. Researchers are suggesting that additional studies need to be done on larger samples of the population. Aside from the health effects to those involved, there are serious legal implications for the tobacco industry in their ongoing court battles against states and individuals suing for damages do to smoking. Presently a Federal Judge in North Carolina has ruled in favor of the tobacco industry in their lawsuit challenging the EPA’s secondhand smoke report. |
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| From Reuters News March 22, 2000, is a report on a new study that shows that mothers who smoke during pregnancy are not only damaging their own lungs but also the lungs of the unborn. The lead author, Dr. Frank D. Gilliland and colleagues at the University of Southern California School of Medicine in Los Angeles write in the April issue of the medical journal Thorax commented, "Exposure to maternal smoking (in the womb) is independently associated with decreased lung function in children of school age," Results of the study show that children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy have signs of impaired lung function that is not caused by exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. The study also suggested that these children may have a higher than average risk of lung cancer and heart disease in adulthood. In case additional incentive was needed, Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that a recent study shows that smokers are four times more likely than nonsmokers to get life-threatening blood infections or meningitis from a type of bacteria that usually causes pneumonia. The researchers found that smokers were 4.1 times more likely than nonsmokers to get these infections, and nonsmokers who were often exposed to cigarette smoke were 2 times more likely than people who did not have such exposure. |
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result in child behavioral problems |
| In the Medical Tribune June 24, 1999 is an article reporting that New York Researchers have found that women who smoke during pregnancy may increase the chance of their children having certain behavioral disorders. For years there has been a well-established connection between low birth-weight and mothers who smoke. But this new evidence shows the longer term effects of smoking during pregnancy. The New York study examined 50 people whose mothers smoked 10 or more cigarettes per day during pregnancy and compared them to 97 whose mothers did not smoke. The research showed that sons of smoking mothers were four times more likely to develop a conduct disorder and or behavioral disorders marked by excessive disobedience, aggression and antisocial behavior. Daughters were five times more likely to be drug dependant teenagers. Previous research also linked smoking mothers to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A 1996 study of 140 boys with ADHD showed 22 percent of the boys with ADHD had mothers who smoked compared with only 8% of those who whose mother didn’t smoke. |
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| For those who thought smoking light cigarettes was somehow safer, comes a report in the Jan. 19, 2000 Journal of the National Cancer Institute. In this report, researchers state that their findings indicate about 80 percent of smokers in the United States who regularly smoke "light" cigarettes are getting twice the exposure of carcinogens than previous estimates. The researchers said the findings suggest that smokers may feel a false sense of security believing the low-tar and low-nicotine are somehow less dangerous to their health. In a similar article reported by OnHealth, the Canadian government will require cigarette packages to include graphic images of diseases caused by smoking. Health Minister Allan Rock says the pictures will depict images, such as blackened lungs and a cancerous mouth, that will cover half of the front panel of all cigarette packs produced in Canada or imported. These pictures should be a "hard-hitting message" to folks about the dangers of smoking. |
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